“Cat and mouse” style races: McLaren involves overtaking and counter-overtaking

The drastic changes of the new cars could also renew the racing dynamics. This is what they expect at McLaren, according to whose engineers energy management will require the development of a real strategy in real time. The fights on the track could see a sequence of back and forth between the duelists, in a much more evident and frequent way than what previously happened with the DRS. The importance of energy With the new regulations, races will revolve around energy management, a very different quantity from the power with which it is often misunderstood. Making the parallel with a combustion car, the power corresponds to the horsepower delivered, while the energy equals the petrol available in the tank with which to fuel the engine. The more you press the accelerator, the more power is delivered, but at the same time the tank empties more quickly. The same happens with a hybrid system, where the power is the thrust of the electric motor, while the energy is the charge still available in the battery. With the 2026 power units, the maximum power has tripled compared to last year, but the battery maintains the same capacity, which is why it tends to discharge much faster. Especially when overtaking, therefore, it will be crucial to decide how much electric power to exploit and for how long, so as not to quickly find yourself without thrust. “Even in previous years, the principle that it was important to have a charged battery to be able to overtake was valid,” explains Mark Temple, Technical Director of Performance at McLaren. “At the same time, however, given the same battery capacity and available energy, you had much less power, so you could use it for a longer period. Now, however, the battery has a similar capacity, but the power is much higher. Therefore, you could choose to spend the battery charge on a single straight to get more boost, but at that point it would be completely discharged. Coming out of the next corner you would only have the energy recovered in the previous braking and you could be vulnerable on the following straight, even if it would not normally be a point of overtaking. I think it will be interesting at the beginning, with the drivers trying to understand not only what to do, but also how the cars around them react.” Photo: FIA The difference with the past “Previously there was DRS and as long as you were close enough, there wasn’t too much tactics in the way the driver used the controls at his disposal,” continues Mark Temple. “In 2026, however, the amount of energy one has will be much more influential in the strategy. Imagine for example Bahrain, where there are three straights in succession. Deciding how much energy to use on each of them will be an interesting challenge for the drivers and especially at the beginning they will have a rapid learning curve, as they also understand how their opponents will react to their every move. It will be a bit like playing cat and mouse.” A large part of the energy management will be the responsibility of the control unit, on which the teams will load the software written directly by them to optimize the use of the hybrid. However, it will be up to the drivers to adapt to the scenarios in real time, manually deciding how much thrust to request from the electric part through the throttles and the Boost and Overtake buttons, the latter available only when overtaking. By regulation, the attacker will be able to exploit a higher power than the defender, but will still have the same energy available, with the risk of finding himself with a flat battery once the maneuver is completed, exposing himself to counter-overtaking. Temple comments: “We will see more variations, perhaps maneuvers we wouldn’t expect, or a driver who exaggerates by trying too early, overtakes, but then compromises himself on the next straight.” Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images The preparation work With the new regulations, preparation for race weekends will be even more important, having to study how to best spend the available energy: “There is a lot we can do to educate the drivers and help them understand the principles of the regulations and the 2026 power units. There is a need to use the energy in an intelligent and strategic way throughout the lap, recover it with greater awareness and then choose where to exploit it. Obviously, a good part of the energy management is done by the power controls unit, but there are also elements within the pilots’ scope of action that they must understand and make best use of.” During the race, the teams will not be able to give precise instructions to the riders on where to push or lift their foot, but only general suggestions, which is why it will be important to prepare before taking to the track. “The simulator is by far the best tool for doing this,” comments Temple. “Working together with our partners at HPP (the Mercedes engine engineers, ed.), we managed to recreate those behaviors on the simulator and then, first with the development drivers and then the regular ones, we did simulations of Australia, Bahrain and so on. The objective is to understand the different challenges that can exist in a qualifying lap, during a race and even in the different race scenarios. Part of the work consists in integrating the information that the drivers receive from the car through the display on the steering wheel and that provided to them by the engineers, but largely it will be up to them to learn and understand how to use that energy.”